The field of this invention is telecommunications systems used in connection with facsimile transmissions. More specifically, this invention relates to a system and method for enhancing ease of facsimile transmissions and providing features relative to facsimile transmissions not heretofore available.
The electronic transmission of documents by way of facsimile (fax) systems employing public and private switched telephone networks has become both commonplace and, often, an essential component in many business activities. In such a setting, it is very common for the fax terminals (fax machines) to be kept quite busy during a major fraction of the business day. Moreover, where sender and recipient are in different time zones, the xe2x80x9cbusiness dayxe2x80x9d can approach 24 hours, particularly in international activities. It is common for fax users to xe2x80x9cbroadcastxe2x80x9d documents to a number of different recipients, that is, send the same message to several different fax machines. It is also true that the contents of some faxed documents are of such a sensitive nature that the originator or addressee would like to have a measure of control over who might see those documents as they move from the receiving machine to the hands of the actual addressee.
These circumstances present a number of practical problems for a fax user. In order to make a successful fax transmission it is necessary that the receiving machine be available at the time that the transmitting machine attempts to contact it. If the receiving machine is already in use handling another message, the transmitter will receive a xe2x80x9cbusyxe2x80x9d signal. The originator""s only recourse is to continue initiating telephone calls until contact can be established. This is a xe2x80x9chit or missxe2x80x9d process at best and can be very wasteful of the originating operator""s time.
Some, rather expensive, fax machines have digital memories which will allow them to memorize the document to be transmitted and to be programmed to make multiple redials in an effort to establish contact in an automatic way. However, this is limited to only one or two documents and, more importantly, it ties up the transmitting machine until the effort is successful or abandoned. This is hardly an acceptable solution if that machine has other documents to send or receive.
There are other conditions which can result in a failure to transmit even though a telephone connection has been established. Perhaps the most common of these is the absence of paper in the receiving machine. In such situations, repeated attempts to xe2x80x9credialxe2x80x9d will lead to repeated toll charges with each attempt, with no actual success until the receiving machine is serviced (which may be some time if the machine is operating unattended because it is nighttime half-way around the world).
Busy machines which are destined to receive messages are affected by the converse problem. Since they and the prospective transmitting machines must engage in (perhaps, automated) xe2x80x9ctelephone tagxe2x80x9d, they are used very inefficiently. When a transmitting machine gets a busy signal, even if it automatically redials, it can only guess at when the receiving machine will be available. Thus, the receiving machine will likely remain idle for some fraction of the time until such an attempt is made.
The practice of broadcasting documents to a number of addressees obviously compounds these problems and adds still others of its own. Even if one does not encounter busy signals or impaired machines, convenient broadcasting demands an expensive memory-type fax machine on the transmitting end. Such machines read in the document once and then proceed to automatically dial the various recipient machines. This process ties up the sending machine and its telephone line and makes them unavailable for incoming calls. This, of course, exacerbates the busy signal problem for those units trying to contact the sending machine.
The security of sensitive documents is still another problem. Once contact is established between two fax machines, the transmission of the document proceeds automatically, irrespective of who may be standing by the receiving machine at the time. In a busy office, the contents of these documents are accessible to the fax operator and anyone else who happens to be in the vicinity.
It is also common for individuals to wish to deliver fax documents to a recipient who is not currently available through a known machine (e.g. a person on a business trip). This is a very inconvenient situation in that it requires that the paper documents be held until the traveler phones in from a remote machine. It further requires that there be someone available at that time who has knowledge of and access to the documents intended for the recipient.
Another concern is related to so-called paperless fax terminals. In recent years, paperless fax techniques allow a computer or a micro-processor equipped with specific software and modem to directly transmit and receive facsimile messages. However, it is also very common that the recipient is not in his or her office (the paperless fax terminal may also be located at home) at the time when fax message is coming. For example, the recipient is out to lunch or otherwise absent from his or her office or home. This requires the sender to retry the communication message delivery again and again if there is no other fax machine available in the office.
Still another concern is adequate accounting control over the billing of calls. Typically, many businesses wish to be able to track the costs of both fax machine use and the associated telephone charges. While telephone charges can be ascertained from telephone company records, in the present environment these must be related to records of the number of pages transmitted per call and so forth, separately maintained by the fax machine or its attendants.
The objects of this invention are to address these many shortcomings of present fax systems and to provide an integrated system for their solution. Furthermore, the intention is to achieve this in a way which is fundamentally compatible with existing fax terminal machines. The basic approach is to provide special computer-based fax Store And Forward Facilities (SAFF""s) as an integral part of a switched telephone network system. All fax transmissions entered into the network are routed to such a facility, typically geographically near the originating machine, where they are temporarily stored or xe2x80x9cspooledxe2x80x9d by the computer in a mass storage buffer, such as a magnetic disk.
The fax message from the originating machine is intended for a destination machine, which may or may not be in a position to immediately answer the call. If the destination machine is within the service region of that SAFF, the system then proceeds to attempt to call the destination fax machine. If the destination machine is within the service area of a different SAFF, the system forwards the fax document data to that facility by long-distance lines, in which case this second facility attempts to call the destination machine. In either case, if contact is established and the message is delivered immediately, the system directs a printed report back to the originating fax machine confirming delivery to the destination machine, and other pertinent data.
If, on the other hand, the delivery cannot be completed immediately due to a busy signal, a machine fault (eg, receiving machine out of paper) or any other reason, the spooled document is saved and the system makes periodic attempts to contact the destination machine and complete the transmission.
In the meantime, the system sends a printed report back to the originating machine acknowledging that the message has been entered into the system, indicating the reason the delivery is being delayed, stating the protocol the system will take to deliver the message, and providing a reference number or xe2x80x9cMessage Codexe2x80x9d which identifies the message and may be used at a later time to trace the status of the document.
Placing the delivering spooling system geographically near the destination machine has the advantage of more economical use of any long-distance lines that may be involved. These lines are used only to move the message from the originator to the spooling system in the vicinity of the destination, which is virtually certain to be successful on the first try. Subsequent attempts to contact the destination machine can be handled more or less locally and need not tie up the bulk of the long-distance facilities.
If the delayed delivery is ultimately successful, the system will send a printed delivery report to the originating machine. On the other hand, if the delivery attempt protocol has gone through its whole cycle without success, a report will be sent to the originator indicating that the delivery procedure has failed and requesting instructions as to how to proceed (eg. try again, redirect the message to an alternate number, or delete the message).
An important feature of the system is that it recognizes all of the documents that are spooled in the system at a given time for a given destination machine. These are identified and linked together to form a message queue for that machine. In this way, once contact is established, all of the waiting messages can be xe2x80x9cdumpedxe2x80x9d to that machine in a continuous batch. Furthermore, if new messages arrive while that dump is occurring, they are simply appended to the end of the active queue and are transmitted when their turn comes. This has the advantage of greatly enhancing the utilization efficiency of a busy destination machine.
Since all outgoing fax documents are temporarily stored at the facility near the originating machine, it is also practical to provide for automatic broadcasting of documents to multiple destinations. Lists of xe2x80x9cbroadcast groupsxe2x80x9d of phone numbers can be programmed into the facility by users, or a list of destination phone numbers entered xe2x80x9cby handxe2x80x9d at the time of a call. The SAFF can then broadcast the message to every machine of the selected list. This is a great advantage to broadcast users in that they need only tie up their machines for one outgoing transmission, the one to the SAFF. The SAFF copies the message to all of the destination machines as outlined above. In the meantime, the originating machine is available for receiving or transmitting other documents.
Similarly, since the documents are stored near the originator, the system can permit messages which have already been sent to be copied to other destinations after the fact, without the necessity of resending the message to the SAFF. Likewise, since the messages are also spooled in a facility near the destination, the system also provides the recipient with the option of forwarding or redirecting documents to still other destinations, as if the recipient were the originator. The system can also accept and store messages destined for a fictitious destination or xe2x80x9cMail Boxxe2x80x9d. Thus, individuals who are traveling can, at their convenience, dial into the system and pick up any waiting documents.
Other services are provided that are particularly useful to individuals who are not at the xe2x80x9chomexe2x80x9d machines. For example, so-called xe2x80x9cpaperlessxe2x80x9d fax terminals, small portable computers equipped with modems and software programs which enable them to emulate fax terminals, are being employed at an increasing rate. The Mail Box system recognizes a variety of these devices and provides interactive features to facilitate their use. In this case, the SAFF can either periodically retry to communicate with the intended paperless fax terminal or transmit the fax message to another paperless fax terminal or fax machine as instructed by the recipient or sender. In addition, the system recognizes a small, highly portable Mail Box Reader that consists of an adapter that can be connected between the user""s telephone and a normal television set (for example, in a hotel room), allowing the user to display fax messages received from the Mail Box on the TV screen.
The system is also programmed to provide a fax-to-voice message conversion service which can convert an inbound fax message into a voice mail message and send the message to the intended recipient""s voice mail box, such as an answer machine.
Another useful feature is the ability of a fax recipient to send automated-voice replies to fax messages back to the originators (typically directed to a voice mail box). This permits the recipient to select a, generally terse, response from a menu of possible replies. These replies may be selected from a menu of standardized responses provided by the system or from a menu of customized responses, in the user""s own voice, that is maintained by the system.
Closely akin to these features is the ability to have the originator of a transmission include the requirement that the recipient provide a security code, such as a PIN number, in order to release the document from the spool to the destination machine. In this case, the SAFF sends a written report to the destination machine advising that a secure message is waiting for a particular recipient and the fax identification of the originating machine. The recipient must then call in to the SAFF and key in the security code to initiate the delivery of the document. Since the document is spooled, the delivery easily may be delayed until the recipient is available to supply the code.
Finally, since the documents and their delivery are both under the control of the telephone system, as a special service the telephone call accounting system can provide both time and charges for the telephone services rendered and fax information, such as pages transmitted, sorted according to the originator""s clients. This can greatly facilitate the fax user who wishes to do cost accounting or to bill clients for costs incurred.